The Prisoner
by ThrashLikeAMechanic
Summary: The Guild sends The Monarch a new henchman after an incident with Dr. Modesa. Will Kano and The Blue Morpho be able to complete their work without tipping off their newest recruit to their hidden identities? Or will Gary find a way to almost get them killed by trusting the wrong person? Again.
1. Prologue

"Honey, you home?" The Councilwoman's deep voice called out as she entered the old brick Victorian home and closed the door behind her and making sure it was bolted shut.

"Up here, Pookums!" The voice of her husband traveled from the upstairs bedroom to her ears as she took off her hat and gloves.

She traveled up the stairs slowly, the heel of her boots clicking against the newly refinished wood. The boys really had done a good job of fixing this place up. The elegant purple wall paper and the decorative cocoon on the banister filled her heart with a twinge of guilt. She had been too busy with the New Guild to help them at all. She was so happy to be moving forward with her career but she missed being The Monarch's number two.

She found The Monarch sitting on the edge of their bed, waiting for her in their room. His maroon robe a little more open than was appropriate at 4 in the afternoon. Gary, his loyal henchman, in his grey sweat pants and twenty sided die t-shirt stood over him. They were scanning over what looked like blueprints for the house.

"I don't know, tell Manolo to do whatever he wants." The Monarch whined, passing the papers over to Twenty-one, who grabbed them with one hand, becoming a crumpled, folded mess. They looked up as The Councilwoman approached them.

"Good, you're both here." The Councilwoman entered the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

"What's up?" Gary asked turning toward her, his arms crossed over his chest. The blueprints crushing a little more in his grip and under his arm.

The Councilwoman sighed "Well, I've got good news, and I've got bad news. I ha-"

"Good news first." The Monarch cut in.

"Seconded." Gary raised his hand before putting it back across his chest.

"Okay?" The Councilwoman sighed and rolled her eyes. "Good news is, is that I may have found you a new henchman."

"Henchman?" Gary's eyebrows raised.

"What? Oh, no no no." The Monarch stood up from the bed and waved his hands in front of his face. "I'm not taking in some Guild endorsed goon they'd rather pawn off than give an un _emplo_ yment check!"

"That's the bad news. You don't really have a choice." The Councilwoman's voice was grave and her face turned stern. "The person we're sending isn't a recruit, she's a prisoner of The Guild, and since The Guild is, well, shall we say less than equipped at the moment. She needs someplace to relocate and serve her sentence and she's unfortunately become my responsibility, which means she'll be staying here."

"No way! That's even worse!" The Monarch's hand sliced through the air. "I don't want some _criminal_ living here! This is a house, not a prison!"

"We don't have a choice!" Sheila's voice raised ever so slightly. "I promise you she _won't_ be a problem."

"You're not going to know that until we've all had a throats slit in the middle of the night." Gary added.

"Trust me, I've met her. She's _not_ going to be a problem." The Councilwoman reassured. "She's coming tonight, I know we don't really have a lot of space right now, but we'll have to make due. You can set her up on the couch or something. Twenty-one I want you in charge of training her till you have the cocoon set up again." A vibrating noise came from The Councilwoman's pocket and she pulled out her round phone and looked at the screen briefly. "I have to go back to New York, Wide Wale has this whole new _system_ he wants to unveil for keeping Guild records in order."

The Monarch looked completely flabbergasted at The Councilwoman's dismissive behavior and watched her with an angry look as she left the room. He shuffled after her as she descended the stairs and exited the house.

"Bye, Sweetness! I'll be back in a few hours! And please put some pants on!" She called before closing the door behind her.

The Monarch sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Dude, we can _not_ have another henchman while we're doing our whole Blue Morpho thing." Gary turned to The Monarch, a pleading look on his face.

"Don't you think I know that?" The Monarch grabbed the blue prints in 21's hands before storming off down stairs.

This is my very first Venture Bro's Fanfic. Let me know if something's off or if anyone seems out of character!


	2. Chapter One

The Guild's guards, Watch and Ward, never seemed to leave my side. Even as we walked up the steps to my "New Leader's " home. Ward's grasp on my shoulder was so strong it was digging into my skin and I was starting to worry about bruising.

While I hated their constant vigil, I more than understood it. The last time I'd tried running off I almost broken my own nose. Rounding a corner and slamming face first into a brick wall. Their diligent watch was less Guild law enforcement and more protection against myself. Because of that I hadn't had much breathing room around them at all, and I could barely remember I time I didn't feel nervous and overcrowded.

As we got to the top of the steps Watch reached out and pressed the doorbell. The muffled sound of electronic chimes rang through the house.

"I got it!" A raspy, broken, male voice came from the other side of the door and shadows traveled into our view from behind the window pane.

I swallowed thickly and took a deep breath as the door opened to reveal a very large, muscular, looking man. His long brown hair tied back into a ponytail and his five-o'clock shadow darkening his face. He didn't look like a super-villain. I expected to be greeted with the whole mask and color specific uniform. Not sweatpants and a nerdy t-shirt. Not that he needed it. This guy could probably kick my ass into next Tuesday if he needed to.

"We're here to deliver the prisoner." Ward announced before shoving a pen and clipboard with Guild paperwork attached in the man's face.

The man blinked in surprise, taking the clipboard out of his face to look back down at me. I bit my lip nervously and looked away.

" This is the prisoner?" He asked blinking at Watch and Ward. "What'd she do, steal a pen from Phantom Limb?"

I had previously considered myself strong enough to hold my own, but he was right, in comparison to him, as well as all the other Guild members and Councilmen I'd been meeting lately, I was pretty pathetic. Reaching barely five foot two, with slim to no muscle mass. My long, dark hair covering my baby-fat-cheeks and the black clothing The Guild had made me wear barely grasping my small frame, I could barely be considered someone of ill repute, let alone a villain of any kind. The most impressive part about me in a fight was how fast I could run away.

"We're not at liberty to speak of her crimes. It should all be in The Monarch's briefs." Watch responded, keeping a stern face.

I rolled my eyes at that but kept silent. Crimes. Like you could really call what I did a crime.

The man scoffed before turning and calling out. " Monarch ! They need your signature!"

"I'll be right there!" A raspy whine came from behind him in the house.

The man turned back to us "He'll be right down." He said with a toothless smile before walking away leaving us standing on the doorstep, the front door wide open and looking into the house. From what I could see of the inside, the place seemed to be under a lot of remodeling. The vestibule and staircase looked fully updated with purple wall paper and a shining wooden banister. Off to the right though, the remodeling seemed to have ended, the floor boards were coming apart and pipes were falling out of the ceiling. There was a large broken mirror over a soot stained fireplace.

A few moment's passed in uncomfortable silence. Ward coughed uncomfortably and I looked off to a planter's box on the window sill that looked like it was full of milkweed.

"Sorry about that, I was just-" a much thinner man with flaming red hair and impressively long eyebrows, downed in a bright yellow track suit came down the stairs and into our vision, but as he saw me he took a double take. "You've got to be kidding me. This is my new henchman?" He said pointing to me as he reached the last step.

"I assure you, sir, this is no joke." Watch stood up a little straighter.

"She's barely bigger than the moppets. I doubt she could even arch a spider. What even makes her a criminal? What, did she rob a baby of his candy?"

"Right? Oh my God, I just said that!" The larger man called from the other room.

"Look, can you just sign the contract?" Ward sighed. "We have other business to attend to."

"Yeah, yeah, where's the thing?" The Monarch reached out to Ward.

"Your henchman has it." Watch grumbled.

"21!" The Monarch called. "You have the contract!"

The sound of footsteps shuffled their way closer before he made his way into our view again, holding the clipboard out to The Monarch. He took it quickly and signed it with heist, his eyes barely grazing over the words and their meaning.

"There. Signed." The Monarch pushed the forms back into Wards hands before Watch pushed me into the house.

Ward pulled off the signed forms and handed the Monarch the rest of the large stack. "Nice doing business with you." Ward smiled fakely before The Monarch slammed the door behind me.

I stumbled a bit at my abrasive entrance into the home. But the larger man grasped my shoulder and I quickly righted myself. Standing up straight and at the ready.

The Monarch cleared his throat and crossed his arms. "Yeah, well. Welcome . I guess." He didn't look very happy about me being there. Neither of them did. "I'm The Mighty Monarch, and this is my henchman, number Twenty-one- of -one. Well, two now I guess."

Twenty-one raised a hand in a quick wave. "Hi." He said and I gave him a quick nod.

"And you arreee?" The monarch rolled his wrist in front of his face urging me to speak.

"Oh!" I felt my cheeks flush slightly that I didn't instantly know to introduce myself. "I-I'm Natasha." I stuttered.

"Oh cool, like the Avenger." Twenty-one smiled and at the Monarch rolled his eyes.

"Oh, heh" I rubbed the back of my neck and shrugged. "Kinda. My dad always joked I was named after Tasha Yarr, though."

"Oh even better! Just don't become a Klingon and die."

"What a way to go thou-"

" Okayy-a !" The Monarch pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. " Nerds." He whispered angrily. "Your name doesn't matter anymore, as a henchman you'll be assigned a number and you will answer to that number."

I nodded in understanding. My smile fading and I stood up a little straighter. "Yes, Sir."

The Monarch crossed an arm over his chest and stroked his beard pensively looking over to the door in thought. "Right. What number should I give yoouuu..."

I shifted nervously. "Can I- uh, can I pick my own number?" I asked.

The Monarch sighed. "Yeah, sure, whatever I don't really care. What number do you want?"

"Can I be Forty-two?" I shrugged and smiled.

The Villain sputtered. "Henchman number one is available and you want forty-two?" The Monarch scoffed. "Yeah, fine. Whatever." He held up a hand exaggerating his disbelief in my behavior.

I clenched a fist to my chest in triumph and I witnessed a smirk out of Twenty-one.

The Monarch turned to the right of the entryway and toward what looked like a half finished living room, motioning for us to follow "This way." He whined.

I got a better look of the room with the broken mirror. The windows were boarded up with wood paneling, and what little sunlight streamed through bounced off of each floating piece of dust like stars. A white coffee table stood in the center of the room, accompanied by an antique green couch and a red smoking chair. Next to the chair was a lamp, whose shade had been so consumed by moths that the broken, burned out bulb was completely visible. Three large candelabras had been placed around the room and next the the couch was; Oh dear god, was that a broken toilet?

"You'll be sleeping in here until we have the flying cocoon set up again. I'll leave you to unpack your things. Just don't, you know, leave your crap everywhere."

I shrugged and pointed to my black leggings and t shirt. "Yeah, the Guild gave me these. I don't really have anything to unpack?"

"Oh." The Monarch looked guilty for a split second before turning nonchalant. "Well, I have business to attend to upstairs. So, just, make yourself comfortable I guess." The Monarch turned back toward the staircase. "Dr. My Wife Should be back soon." He muttered as he shuffled up the stairs.

When he was out of earshot I let out a nervous breath I didn't realize I was holding in.

Twenty-one plopped down on the couch with a sigh and looked back up at me. "Don't mind him, he's just doesn't like it when The Guild tells him what to do."

"I can tell." I bit my lip and looked around the room.

"Oh, dude, tell me the 42 thing was because of Hitchhiker's Guide." He asked.

I chuckled and ran a finger across the fireplace, a thin layer of dust coating it. "You caught that, did you? I mean, yeah." I rubbed my finger across my leggings, smearing a grey line onto my hip. "Why be henchman number one when you can be the answer to life, the universe and everything?"

Twenty-one nodded approvingly. "You don't have to call me by my number, seeing as it's just the two of us. I'm Gary by the way."

"Gary." I repeated back to him in an attempt to remember later. "Nice to meet ya." I reached out and shook his hand. "What happened to the other numbers?" I asked.

"Oh, that." He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Sergeant Hatred kinda went ape shit and blew up the cocoon and the old house after the moppets…" He shook his head and stopped himself. "Well, anyway, Most of the men were inside and the insurance didn't cover a lot of the damage, so the one's that weren't killed we couldn't really afford to keep on. Plus we ended up having to move here. This is The Monarch's parent's house, and let's face it even if we could afford henchman, who wants to relocate to Newark?"

"What about you?" I asked, folding my arms and leaning against the wall.

Gary seemed surprised I was asking, "I'm sort of- working for The Monarch pro bono. I kind of owe him and his wife a lot."

"His wife's the Councilwoman, right? With the-" I patted my throat. "Really deep voice?"

"You've met her already?" He asked.

"Yeah. I mean, she's the whole reason I'm even here." I shrugged and looked to my feet. "The Councilwoman is the nicest person I've encountered in months." I grasped my arm trying to hide into myself a bit. "No one else in The Guild was even willing to hear me out. I'm pretty sure without her I'd have been executed."

Gary's eyes were wide as I looked back to him. "Executed?" He gasped. "What'd even you do to become a prisoner of The Guild, anyway?"

As I opened my mouth to speak the sound of the front door opening reached our ears. We looked over to see the Councilwoman walking through the door with a large plastic bag hanging off of her wrist. I quickly adjusted my position against the wall to standing board straight, my hands tucked behind my back. She turned toward us and smiled widely. "Oh, Good! You're here!" The Councilwoman sauntered toward me. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you." A sad frown grazed her lips.

I smiled at her warmly. "Don't worry I haven't been here long." I waved my hands in front of me. "Besides, I've been getting to know Twenty-one." I said smiling over to the henchman.

Her face softened as she looked to Gary as well, "I had a feeling you two would get along. I left Wide Wale's as soon as I could." The Councilwoman pressed her free hand to my shoulder. "Well, I mean, I did make a pit stop on my way." She moved the plastic bag from her wrist to her hand and raised it closer to me. The smell emitting from it was incredible and my stomach let out a soft growl.

" Ohmygod , is that Chinese?" The words poured out of my mouth too quickly for me to question their appropriateness, my eyes not moving from the bag in her hands.

The Councilwoman gave a quick nod. "I thought we could celebrate your arrival with a little take-out. What do you think?" She asked.

I could only nod hungrily.

The Councilwoman chucked. "Where's The Monarch?" She turned to Gary, "Was he even here to greet her?" Her tone turned stern and slightly annoyed.

"Oh yeah, he signed the paperwork, showed her the couch-" He patted the green furniture underneath him. "-and then went upstairs. Said he had something he needed to work on."

The Councilwoman scoffed and turned toward the staircase. "I can't believe him, he's just acting up- Sweety!" She yelled. " Come downstairs I brought home dinner!"

The Councilwoman looked back to us and waved for us to follow her. Gary headed and pushed himself off of the couch with a bit off a tired huff, hesitantly I followed behind him.

We passed the staircase and toward a large wooden door at the end of the hall, when she pushed the door open, holding it for Gary and I, I realized it was the kitchen. The white laminate tiles were pealing and the orange wallpaper was faded. The avocado colored fridge, with it's rust stained handles looked like it was from the sixties. The brick oven was blackened with soot and ash.

The Councilwoman plopped the bag onto the wooden table in the center of the kitchen and Gary's hand dipped into the bag immediately to help serve out the boxes of food without any instruction from her.

"Sit." The Councilwoman instructed me as she reached into a cupboard to pull out several dinner plates. I hesitantly took a seat at the table, my back straight and my knee began to shake and bounce nervously as the two set the table before me.

The kitchen door swung open again and The Monarch entered. "About time." He complained under his breath.

"Hi, Hunny, grab a seat." The Councilwoman ignored his comment as she placed a plate in front of him alongside a pair of disposable chopsticks from the bag before kissing the top of his head softly. The Monarch plopped into the seat across from me. He propped his elbows up against the table and began to take apart his chopsticks. Rubbing the wood together to get rid of the splinters.

Gary reached over the table and filled my plate with lo mien before placing large spoonfuls on everyone else's plate. The Councilwoman sat next to her husband and passed me a box of cashew chicken as Twenty-one took the remaining seat at the table, next to me.

A silence fell over the room as we all tucked into our meal.

It felt strange. Everyone else felt so comfortable and used to each other. The Monarch asking his wife about her day, Gary adding jokes and quips as everyone ate their meal. I didn't feel like a prisoner. I felt like a friend. It wasn't what I'd imagined at all though, I guess I never really imagined I'd be eating dinner like an equal at a table full of super-villains. I felt my guard falling ever so slightly around them, but still kept a respectful silence until Gary cleared his throat.

"So…" He started. "You didn't get a chance to answer my question earlier."

I blinked at him for a moment, my mind wandering back to the living room before remembering what he'd asked. "Oh!" I turned to The Councilwoman. "Am I allowed to talk about everything with The Guild?" I asked.

The Councilwoman swallowed her lo mien thickly and poked her food with her chop stick before answering me, without looking over. "You may speak of your crimes to whoever you wish. However, any member of The Guild, like myself, 21, and The Monarch may not speak to others without your consent."

"Ah, but I can tell-" I pointed to Gary with my chopstick.

"Yes." The Councilwoman nodded.

"Oh good." The Monarch interjected, his tone laced heavily with sarcasm. "I've been wanting to know how we wound up with a criminal in the house."

The Councilwoman gave the villain a scolding look before turning back to her meal.

"Um So, I guess it started when I went to to hospital." I looked down to my food and sighed, not willing to look anyone in the eye while I told my story. "A few weeks ago I got really sick. It was probably just the flu, or like, mono or something. I went into the emergency room with a fever of, like, 106 and I couldn't stop ralphing. It was all probably really easy to fix, but anyway. So I'm in the hospital, delusional from the fever and dehydration and god knows what else and this doctor- Doctor Modesa- he comes to my room and hands me this stack of papers and tells me that I have to sign them. I figured, whatever, it's a consent to treatment form or something, so without even looking at it, I sign it. Because, you know, what kind of person takes advantage of someone so sick they can't even eat solid food?" I scoffed angrily and stabbed at a piece of chicken a little harder than I meant to. "I'm sick , I'm not going to actually read the damn thing! Turns out, that pile of papers wasn't a consent to treatment form, but a Guild Contract, consenting to be this Doctor Modesa's Henchman and experimental Guinea Pig in all his messed up science crap.

"So, then, after signing all this he tells me he needs to put me into quarantine because I "have some kind of strange viral infection " and takes me back to his "Private Practice" which is really his super secret science lab. Well, when my fever finally breaks I figure out that he's not curing or helping me at all, that he's actually spent this whole time, like, splicing my DNA and injecting me with all kinds of nuclear waste and shit!" I sighed in frustration and put down my chopsticks looking up to the table Gary's jaw was clenched and he looked rather angry, The Councilwoman, who'd heard my story before and from several different people besides me looked unfazed as ever eating her dinner quietly, and The Monarch was watching me intently as he slurped up his noodles. "Anyway." I looked back down at my plate. "I kinda- flipped out on him and I may have, sorta, accidentally killed him…" I shrunk down into my chair a bit, afraid of the men's reaction after that information.

"You killed him?" Gary's voice seemed to crack a little more than usual. "How?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose in embarrassment. "I grabbed a bunch of the beakers off of his desk and threw them at him… annnnnd one of them may have turned out to be a modified acid he'd made from fire ant venom." I muttered.

"Oh shit!" Gary's eyes got even wider.

"Bad Ass!" The Monarch exclaimed.

I blushed and looked away. "It wasn't on purpose, I was going for more ' maim and distract' . Not ' hot puddle of mad scientist'. " I sighed. "So I ran off, but The Guild caught me a few weeks ago and arrested me. They declared me mutinous because according to those papers I signed I was this guy's property as a henchman, which means I killed my leader under guild contract, and I was a deserter for running off, so, yeah. The Council was actually kind of nice about it, well I mean, That one guy wanted to execute me." I looked over to The Councilwoman. "But instead they're letting me serve out my contract instead. So, for the next 5 years, I'm a henchman to whoever the Council says."

"Wow." Gary looked down at his meal solemnly. "I guess I should really read Guild Contracts more carefully."

I chuckled softly. "You probably should."


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

After dinner, The Monarch and his wife headed upstairs. The Councilwoman had poured herself a glass of wine with dinner and was becoming increasingly more affectionate with The Monarch throughout the meal. I was under the impression that they're hasty escape to the bedroom was probably not for a good night's sleep.

I offered to help Gary with the dishes and the clean up of the kitchen, but he seemed rather intent about doing them himself. And again, I was feeling less like a prisoner and more like a guest. It was odd. Not that I minded, it was better than my first few weeks in The Guild's care. To say the least.

When The Guild had first found me, hours after killing Dr. Modesa, I was at my mothers. I was panicked and scared and fighting myself on whether or not to call 911. The Guild burst in through the front door with no warning, weapons at the ready. They wrangled me to the ground, handcuffed me, put a sack over my head and packed me into a car. They took me to what looked like an old underground bunker and they'd held my hearing on the spot. A small room full of old super villains I'd never even heard of, along side Watch and Ward, were put in charge of decided my fate.

Dr. Z wanted me executed. "This is an act of treason!" He had shouted to the rest of the group. "According to Guild Law she should be beheaded!"

The Councilwoman was more reasonable. "She didn't even know she was under Guild Law, Dr. Modesa tricked her into signing that contract!" Her deep voice echoed in the chamber.

At the Councilwoman's suggestion, The Guild decided to keep me as a henchman, as property , and assigned me to a villain on the council named Phantom Limb.

He was crass and rude, but not in the way you'd expect a villain to be toward a henchman. No, he was worse, he was, in the most polite way of saying it, sexist . Instead of reconnaissance, or body guarding, or even regular arching, he had me do much more demeaning jobs. I was woken at five every morning to cook him breakfast, after that I did the dishes, made his bed, did his laundry, and cleaned the rest of the house. I was made to wear a uniform, somehow he had taken the regular "sexy french maid costume", but taken part of the dress that was usually black, and made it into a heavy see-through plastic. He said it was part of the whole "Ghostly, see-through, phantom limb thing" but to me I just felt like it was a way to see me almost naked while I scrubbed his kitchen floors.

A few weeks in and I'd cooked him a meal he wasn't found of.

"You call this fried chicken? Do you have no taste buds, Woman?" He asked before his invisible hand threw his plate against the wall.

"I can make you something else." I argued. "You said you didn't have any dietary restrictions. I didn't think this would be a problem."

"No dietary restrictions imply that you would still cook edible food. Not a rag soaked in lard!" His hands and arms had started to spark and glow in his rage.

"I'm sorry!" I folded into myself "I'll make you something else!" But before I knew what was happening Phantom Limb had grabbed my hand and the world around me had gone black.

When I came to I was back in the bunker, I stayed there for a few days under the care of Watch and Ward. I tried to escape twice while I was there, but each time I ended up just injuring myself and making things worse.

The first time, I dislocated my shoulder by throwing myself against a locked metal door. I crumpled to the ground and cried until Watch found me half an hour later. After popping it back into place, he gave me his juice box. Ward later informed me that kind of a gesture from him was not something to be taken lightly. It was like being bestowed an honor.

The second time I got caught trying to unlock said metal door, with the plastic straw from the juice box I'd been given. Once caught I tried running away from them, I rounded a corner and: slam ! Right into the wall.

After a week in their custody, The Councilwoman came to my aid, she came to the bunker and explained that Phantom Limb thought I wasn't up to his standards and that and handed me back to the Guild for reassignment. She explained that she wasn't surprised, and from her prior experiences with him she knew what an impossible ass he could be. She told me it wasn't my fault and that she was moving me to work with another villain, her husband, and she promised me I'd be in good hands.

As I curled up into a ball on the couch I hoped that her promise was true.

I heard the sound of the running water from the kitchen stop and watched as one of the pipes I could see from the opening in the ceiling bounced slightly. Gary's footsteps traveled down the hall and soon he was in the door frame of the living area. I looked up to him from my spot on the couch, he was wiping his hands on a towel.

"I'm gonna head to bed, do you need anything?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No." I said softly.

The henchman nodded. "G'night." He said as he turned off the remaining lights and climbed the stairs. When I heard the sound of his door upstairs close and let out a sigh and flipped over onto my back, trying to get comfortable.

The moon light from the window streamed across the room, casting ominous shadows across the floor. The house was completely still, the only noise came from the creeks the couch made every time I exhaled.

The longer I lay there the stiffer my back felt, I turned on to my side again and my shoulder landed on something sharp. I pushed myself up to see a rusty spring sticking out of the fabric.

"Lovely." I grumbled and tried to push the metal back beneath the fabric.

A burst of wind traveled through the cracks in the wood boarding up the windows and I shivered. The Monarch's hadn't set out a blanket on the couch and I was starting to regret not asking Gary for one before he left. I crossed my arms and tucked my head to my chest as another burst of wind washed over me.

I tossed and turned for several hours. Trying desperately to get warm, or at the very least a little more comfortable. Looking to the clock in the entryway it was about one in the morning when I finally sighed and sat up. There had to be a spare blanket somewhere. I got up and slowly, not wanting to make a lot of noise and began searching the room. Against the wall there was an old canvas covering old paint cans. Maybe I could wrap myself in- oh god it was literally covered in dead spiders and dust bunnies. Never mind.

I sighed, maybe there was something in the kitchen.

I tip-toed down the hall and into the kitchen, the door creaked open and I looked around the room. On the table was a towel that looked like the one Gary had used to dry his hands. Maybe I could use that to at least cover my shoulders or so- oh wow, it smelled like rotting tuna and fried eggs. Not that.

Didn't Gary mention there was a bathroom upstairs at dinner? Maybe there were some clean towels I could use as a makeshift blanket.

Not bothering to turn on the lights, I crept up the stairs slowly, my hand grasping the banister so that I didn't trip and fall in the darkness.

At the top of the stairs was an elegant double door, the doors were shut and the sound of the monarch's snores echoed from within. On the left there was another closed door, but next to that the door stood open, revealing the bathroom.

I crept across the creaky wooden floor, the last thing I wanted to do was wake anyone up. In the glow of the moonlight from the window I could make out the faint outlines of the sink, tub and toilet. Above the toilet I could see a wire shelf, and on said shelf was a pile of nicely folded, fluffy towels. I smiled and grabbed one from the top. But as I turned around to exit I came face first with something, very, very hard.

"AH! FUCK !" I cursed loudly as I fell to my knees in pain. I could feel the blood rushing to my nostrils already.

The light of the bathroom switched on and I looked up to see Gary towering over me. His fist clenched, my blood painted across his knuckles, and his eyes were wide in surprise.

"Oh my god, I'm so, so sorry! I didn't know it was you, I just heard someone sneaking around. I thought you were an intruder or, I don't know, an assassin or something!" He quickly bent down to where I was sitting on the floor, my hands covering my face in pain.

"Oh my god that fucking hurts!" I felt tears starting to pool in my eyes and the blood dripped down my hands and into my mouth.

Gary grabbed a wad of toilet paper quickly and wiped my chin. "Here," His voice broke, "tilt your head back and take your hands away." He instructed.

Hesitantly, I obeyed. He wiped my face gently with the toilet paper before pressing down on the bridge of my nose lightly. I winced and pulled away.

"Well, It doesn't feel broken." He sighed looking a little more than relieved. "It's just kinda swollen." He sighed "Here…" I stifled a sob as he grabbed more toilet paper. He broke it into two pieces and twirled the ends into points before grabbing my by the jaw and shoving them into my nostrils. "I am soooo sorry" His whole body moved as he exaggerated the 'so'. "Try to keep your head elevated" he suggested.

I nodded and looked down to the towel I'd originally come up here for. I let out a small frustrated huff, "Crap, dere's blood all ober da towel." I groaned, the toilet paper in my nose now affecting my speech.

Gary looked down and gingerly took it from me before he stood back up and turned to the sink. He turned it on and ran the towel under the hot water and rubbing the blood spots with his thumb. "Why'd you need a towel?" He asked. "Did something downstairs spill?"

"It's freebing downstairs." I faked a shiver and pulled my knees in close to me as I sat on the floor. "I was trying to bind a blanket or somefing."

I heard a muffled snort and could tell Gary had to stop himself from laughing at the way I was talking. "I'm pretty sure there's an extra one in my room." He said.

Getting the last of the blood stains out of the towel, he threw it over the side of the shower curtain rod to dry. He held out a hand to me and helped me up from my spot on the floor. I gingerly took it from him and lifted myself up. Gary flipped the light in the bathroom off before leading me out to the room next door, revealing what was clearly his own bedroom.

It looked a lot like the rest of the house, the wood floor was indented with deep scratches and the soft blue paint was flaking off into large crusty shapes on the walls, leaving white dust and paint chips on all corners of the room. Against the wall a full size mattress lay on the floor, no headboard or box spring, just the mattress. It was covered in magenta bed sheets and a purple blanket. A stack of comic books sat next to the bed with a glass of water on top, making the comic books look like a tiny bedside table. Against the window was an acoustic guitar and on the ledge was a sewing machine. The bobbin looked broken with dark blue threads knotted and wrapped around the machine. There were also several cook books and a tiny spiderman figurine holding them up like a bookend.

Gary made his way toward a small door on the other side of the room, he opened it to reveal a packed closet. "I've got this sleeping bag I used to use while I was camping for like a year in-" He paused. "Well, it was basically this guy's yard." He said into the closet. "And I'm pretty sure I have an extra set of sheets." He was rustling in the closet, the sound of books and plastic bags and clothes all moving about in his search. He stopped and looked over to me as I stood waiting by the open door. He squinted, "Do you have, like, something to sleep in?" He asked.

"What do you bean?" I huffed through the toilet paper.

"Like, pajamas." He answered. "Do you have any pajamas?"

"Oh." I shook my head. "No, just this." I pinched at the shirt I was wearing.

He entered the closet once again and the rustling continued. "Here." He muffled into the closet before a t-shirt came flying at me. I grabbed at it quickly before opening it up and looking at it. It was a large black shirt with the words "My leader went to the Calamity Conference and only got his best henchman this lousy t-shirt." And the Guild's logo printed on it.

Gary's rustling stopped again and he let out a frustrated huff. "I can't find it." He groaned. He looked back to me biting his lower lip pensively. Clearly thinking of other places it could be.

I shook my head "It's okay ib you can't find it." I sniffled. "I'm fine with one ob those towels."

"No, no." Gary stood up. "I think it's down stairs." He reassured me. "Here, uhh…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Why don't you just sleep up here." He motioned a thumb to his mattress against the wall. "And I'll take the couch." He smiled at me warmly.

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah!" He said energetically. "It's a lot warmer up here."

"No, I bean, won't you be cold?" I huffed.

Gary gave me a sad, sideways smirk. "It's the least I can do for injuring you. Plus I'm pretty sure the sleeping bag is down stairs. And that thing is like, industrial grade. I'm pretty sure I could be warm in that thing if I was climbing Mount. Everest."

I looked at him, still unconvinced. "You're sure? " I asked again.

"I'm sure ." He nodded and walked passed me toward the door. "Sleep well." He said before closing the door behind him.

I heard him shuffle down stairs slowly before the house was quiet again. I sighed and looked down at the shirt he'd given me. It was enormous, and would probably fit me like a dress. I moved over to his mattress and tossed the shirt on top of the crumpled sheets. Making sure the tissue in my nose was still secured I pulled off my black shirt and tossed it to the floor, I stepped out of the leggings as well, leaving me only in my underwear and bra. I pulled on Gary's shirt gingerly, making sure not to press the fabric against my sore nose.

My previous assumption had been correct. The shirt reached down to my upper thigh, fitting me like a small hospital gown. I plopped down onto his mattress with a sniff, the blood that had previously been pouring from my nose seemed to be slowing. Tentatively, I pulled the paper out of my nostrils. I took a deep breath in from my nose, clearing out any left over blood and placed the tissues on top of my clothing.

Gary's kindness was alien to me. In a world full of super-villains I expected everyone to be angry and vengeful. Yet The Councilwoman sought justice for me and made sure that my punishment was fair. Gary had gone to great lengths to make sure I was welcomed and comfortable, and my entrance to their team was greeted with celebration and Chinese take-out. I wasn't sure how to respond or how to feel about any of it.

I didn't get much time to contemplate these thoughts though. Before I knew it my eyes were becoming heavy, and cocooned in Henchman Twenty-one's blankets I fell fast asleep.


	4. Chapter Three

Sorry about the last chapter I have no idea what happened heh. Here's the next chapter tho!

Plz review :3

When I awoke in the morning my eyes were greeted with bright, shining, sunlight streaming through the window. A blue jay sat on the ledge, chirping softly. His happy tune echoing around him. I stretched and yawned before panic washed over me quickly, my heart rate skyrocketed as I threw the covers off of me. My whole body broke out into a cold sweat.

Where the hell was I? What was happening?

Flashes filled my mind of the emergency room, of being so sick I couldn't even stand, they flashed to Dr. Modesa's smiling face as he greeted me for the first time, to being hooked up to IV bags and electrical wires. The sound of the doctor's screams echoed in my mind and I began to shake uncontrollably. Flashes to The Council, The Councilwoman, Phantom Limb, The Monarch… and then, to Gary. My body relaxed. I was in Gary's room. In The Monarch's home. I remembered and slowly let out a deep breath. A calm to come over me and I flopped back onto the mattress. As I relaxed back into the bed I realized just how badly I needed to use the restroom. I huffed and pushed myself out of bed.

"I wonder what time it is." I whispered to myself as I stretched and rubbed the back of my neck. I made my way to the door. I yawned and pulled the door open to reveal the hallway, which was not as empty as I thought it would be.

"I'll be right back, I'm just going to take a quick du-" The Monarch stopped dead in his tracks. His maroon bathrobe fluttering open around his unclothed thighs.

Following his lead I stopped too, and noticed him looking me up and down in surprise.

"What's- uh, What's all this?" He pointed a finger to me, again, pointing up and down.

I looked down and realized that I was only wearing the shirt Twenty-one had given me to sleep in, and with my arm raised to the back of my neck, the shirt had ridden up to reveal my pink underwear. I blushed feverishly and pulled the shirt down to my thighs again.

The Monarch sputtered. "It's your first night here and you're already braising the beef curtains with my henchman?"

I shook my head frantically. "No! I- nothing happen-…" I paused for a moment and let his words sink in. "Braising the beef curtains?" I asked disbelievingly, my face twisting in shock and disgust before shaking it off. "N-nothing happened." I repeated.

"Oh, Pah-lease." The Monarch rolled his eyes. "What do you think I am: a fool? And what happened to your face? You look like Marilyn Manson spent the last three hours crying without taking off his makeup."

I reached up and touched my cheeks which were puffier than I'd expected them to be from the blow to the nose that Gary had issued to me last night, when he thought I was an intruder. I must have a bit of a shiner.

"Nevermind." The Monarch waved me off with a sigh. "Just, you know, try to keep it in your pants?" He grumbled before heading to the bathroom.  
I slinked back into the room and closed the door, pressing my forehead against it. I was pretty sure you could actually fry an egg on my face from how feverishly I was blushing. After a moment I turned back to the room and grabbed the leggings off the floor from besides Gary's bed. I pulled them on with a huff. I'd have to wait to use the bathroom, seeing as The Monarch had just entered.

I reopened the door slowly and peeked out into the hall. Seeing it was clear this time, I made my way down stairs. When I made it to the entryway I could see Gary in the living space, already awake, hunched over his cell phone. He looked up at the sound of my approaching footsteps and when he saw me he visibly cringed. My eye must look really bad. I bit my lip and made my way closer to him.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked.

"Good." I responded and sat across from him in the red smocking chair. "Thank you for letting me sleep in your bed. Were you okay down here?"

Gary nodded and shrugged to his left, pointing out the sleeping bag at the end of the couch. "I found the sleeping bag down here, so I was fine." He said. "Brought back some old memories, still kinda smells like the Venture Compound." He looked over to the sleeping bag a soft look in his eyes before he turned back to me. "Are you okay?" He placed his cell phone down on the coffee table and leaned in, looking at me somewhat intense.

"Your eye looks really bad, I'm so sorry I socked you last night." He looked like a wounded dog.

"Oh," I chuckled. "Yeah, I get the impression it's better than it looks. Seriously, it's sore, but it's not that bad." I pressed a hand to my nose lightly.

Gary looked unconvinced and I shrank into the smoking chair.

The sound of a door from upstairs closing reached our ears before The Councilwoman descended the stairs in her pink bath robe.

"Morning, you two." She said with a yawn. "Is there any coffee?" She asked as she got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Just started it." Gary responded with a head nod toward the kitchen.

The Councilwoman looked at me and smiled and I got the overwhelming feeling that The Monarch had told her about our encounter this morning. I blushed and looked to my feet.

"I feel like some eggs and toast this morning. Care to join me?" She asked already heading to the kitchen.

I looked over to Gary with a shrug who was looking after The Councilwoman with a soft sideways smile. He pushed himself off the couch and waved for me to follow. When we entered the kitchen I took my seat from last night. Gary got out four mugs from a cupboard and poured out the half full coffee pot.

"I think we're out of milk, but we've got some sugar, do you want some?" Gary said turning in my direction.

"Huh? Oh." It took me a moment to process his words as I watched The Councilwoman grabbing the eggs from the fridge. "Yeah, I'd like that, thank you. Um, can I do anything to help?" I asked. Sitting still while they made breakfast was starting to feel uncomfortable.

Gary looked over to The Councilwoman who shook her head. "You're fine," She said turning the fire up on the stove and placing the pan over the flames. "It's a small kitchen, you'd probably end up in the way more than anything."

I shrunk back into my chair as Gary placed a mug of black coffee and a cup full of loose white sugar in front of me, a soup spoon sticking out of it.

"Thanks." I smiled up at him lightly. He set out the rest of the mugs of coffee on the table before sitting across from me. As I parceled out my sugar into my mug I got a glimpse of my own reflection in the spoon. "Oh wow." I muttered raising it up to my face to get a better look. It was, indeed, a lot better than it looked. My lower eyelids puffed a bright red and the shadow of my eye was a deep purple, almost black.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Gary's back hunch and he raised a hand to cover his forehead. I put the spoon down and looked at him, he was biting his bottom lip and looking away from me.

"Dude," I said calling his attention to me. "It's okay. If anything, I'm just really impressed."

"I'm so sorry." He repeated, shifting in his chair.

"Sorry for what?" The Councilwoman asked from the stove.

"Oh, it's noth-" As I was about to insist that Gary had nothing to apologize for, she turned from the stove to look at me, which she apparently had not really done yet this morning. The fork she'd been using to scramble the eggs clattered to the floor.

"What in the hell happened to your eye?" She asked as she left the eggs to cook on the stove and walked over to my chair. She craned her neck down, her blue orbs looking me over carefully to see how bad the damage was.

"I swear! It barely hurts. I'm fine." I chuckled slightly at her mother-henning.

Her head snapped to Gary who shrunk away from her glance instantly, guilt plastered on his face. "You did this? Twenty-One, what were you thinking?" She asked. "When did this even happen? I asked you to train her, not beat her like a sack of potatoes!"

I shook my head and interjected. "No, it's not from training-" I tried to explain.

"Then what? You just 'fell into a door'?" She said sarcastically. "I had to pull a lot of strings to get you away from Hamilton and his abusive behavior. If the rest of the Guild find out you've been injured again, and under my care, they'll probably insist that you get shipped back to that underground hell hole."

"It's not like that!" I argued, trying to calm her down. "I went upstairs last night, Twenty-One thought I was an intruder!"

She paused and looked to Gary, who was avoiding her gaze and biting his lip. She looked back at me before closing her eyes and letting out a low raspy laugh. She straightened and rubbed her forehead.

"It's always something with you, isn't it." The Councilwoman shook her head and went back to the eggs on the stove.

"Hey, at least this was an accident, and if anything, my own damn fault." I smirked and she began plating up the eggs. "If anything just count it as botched stealth training I didn't know I was getting."

The kitchen door opened and The Monarch walked in, still in his maroon robe, with a news paper folded under his arm, he slid beside The Councilwoman and kissed her softly on the cheek. "Morning, Sugar Plum." He cooed before sitting across from me and grabbing one of the mugs of coffee.

The Councilwoman smiled at her husband before grabbing the plates she'd served up and placing them in front of us. "Still," She continued. "Go easy on her, Gary."

The Monarch sat up a little straighter and looked to his henchman "Oh! We're talking about this already are we?" He asked, setting down his news paper with a somewhat ecstatic look on his face.

My eyes shot to him quickly, already knowing what he was thinking. "No." I stated.

"Oh come on," The Monarch picked up the toast on his plate and crunched into it. "How big is it?" He smirked.

I ground before taking a deep breath and looking over to Gary. "Are we going to be able to train today?" I asked changing the subject.

"Oh!" Gary looked from me to The Monarch with a confused glance before replying, "yeah we could do that. Are you sure you're okay with your eye?"

I nodded "I think so."

"We'll get started around noon then." Gary smiled.


	5. Chapter Four

OMGGGGG im so excited for the new season im sorry im so bad at updating. Reviews do actually help keep me inspired, just an fyi. enjoy~

* * *

After breakfast The Councilwoman led me to her bedroom and was able to find some fresh clothes for me in the back of her closet. I watched her eyes drift over 21's shirt and the smirk plaster over her lips made me flush before she mumbled something about " _oh my god, I still have this farmers daughter costume_ " and " _having to make a new uniform_ " and " _maybe my old one would fit her_ " I saw her pull out a pair of denim shorts and polka dot shirt before she shook her head and then dug out and a pink camisole and a yellow and black cheerleaders skirt.

"Sorry it's all I really have unpacked right now that's clean." She shrugged. "Use this for now and I'll get you set up with a proper henching uniform when I have the time."

Once I'd dressed and freshened up in the bathroom, _finally_ peeing and taking a quick shower, I went downstairs. Gary was nowhere in sight. I checked the time and it was barely 10am. The Monarch was upstairs and The Counsilwoman had set herself up in the barely half renovated study. I made my way to the living room, noticing a deck of beat up, dirty looking playing cards on the coffee table. I sat on the green couch and set up a game of solitaire, not really sure of what to do with myself. Figuring that if I was needed they'd be able to find me there.

Most of my possessions had been confiscated upon my abduction and I couldn't believe how much I'd missed my cell phone. No facebook, no stupid cat videos, no music, no dumb clicker games to pass the time. Nothing. Not even porn. I never thought I'd miss technology this much.

After an hour or so and a few games of solitaire I felt my eyes getting heavy, I was almost ready for a nap on the couch when I heard the Councilwoman's deep voice come from the study across the hall, at first it was hard to make out through the closed sliding wooden doors, but as she went on she got louder and louder, anger and frustration clear in her tone.

"They're walking into a _death trap_!" She yelled. "We have to call off the Warhammer arch."

I could faintly make out the sound of another voice, but it was echo-y like she was on speaker phone or something."Why, exactly?" A man's voice retorted. "Because you think the world's laziest super-scientist, has suddenly become a costumed crusader?"

"Because I _know_ he is." The Councilwoman argued. "Watch the surveillance video again. Venture and Samson run out, and then _20 seconds later_ , The Blue Morpho and his big sidekick show up?"

"Preposterous. There'd be no time for them to change." This time I recognized the voice, it was phantom limb. I felt anger rise up in my throat as I looked back down to my playing cards.

"Wrong I can do it in 18.6 seconds. Here, time me!-" The sound of The Councilwoman chair rolling back as she stood up hit my ears. The hell was she doing?

"Uh, no, that won't be necessary, councilwoman." That one I got right away as Dr. Z.

"No really! Watch!-" She insisted.

"Councilwoman…" Phantom limb warned her in an almost mocking tone. "What's has become abundantly clear is that your husbands unhealthy obsession with Dr. Venture is starting to rub off on you."

"What are you saying?" She asked defensively.

"Maybe you should take a day" Dragoon's raspy whisper rang out. "…. Councilwoman." he added as if to soften the blow.

The floorboards above me creaked and I could hear the Monarch's footsteps coming down stairs. "Will you calm down?" He whined. "I didn't know she'd just commandeer the place. I was going to make that my new throne room!" He was on the phone, still in his robe and slippers. There was a pause before he spoke again. " _I will!_ " He said in exasperation. Before making his way to the study.

There was a low growl before a loud thunk reverberated across the house- the Councilwoman had clearly kicked something heavy across the room. The Monarch sid one of the doors open peering inside gently. "Hey, sugar-pop, whatcha doin' in here?" The monarch pushed the sliding wooden doors all the way open and walked up to his wife. I looked over to see her going back to her desk, her shoulders hunched in aggravation.

"Nothing _apparently_ ," She huffed. "There's a rogue villain killer on the loose and instead of letting me _do my job,_ the council- in their infinite wisdom- thinks they can stop him with… p-posters!" She unfolded a pixel-y looking wanted poster and shoved it in his face.

"Great! Out of your hands then. You can take the day off!" The Monarch grabbed the poster from her and tossed it behind him. "Get you all relaxed-" He walked behind her to rub her shoulders.

The Councilwoman hummed.

"Put you in a warm bath…" He continued.

"Magic monarch hands." She moaned.

He chuckled before turning her around quickly in her office chair to kiss her. I flushed and looked away and feeling like I was intruding as the two continued to make out. I fiddled with the eight of hearts in my hand, trying to find a place for it to go when suddenly the seat next to me dipped and I looked over to see Gary who Seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Hey." He greeted me, looking a little flustered.

"Hey! Where'd you come from?" I smirked.

"Around-" Gary's eyes were a bit shifty, before his eyes landed on my skirt. I saw his eyes widen and his checks flush slightly. "Did, uh, did the councilwoman give you this?" He asked.

I looked down before lifting a confused eyebrow at him. "Yeah, why?"

Gary didn't answer and just shook his head, as if trying to erase a memory.

The kissing noises stopped for a moment. "You are just a tiger today! What brought this on?"

"I just miss you so much…" The Monarch quilled.

Gary made an uncomfortable face. "You wanna start training early?" He asked.

"God, yes." I rolled my eyes and we both got up off of the couch and headed to the back yard.

* * *

Gary stood in front of me, hands on his hips and his face stern. The grass in the backyard looked as if it hadn't been mowed in years, what little wasn't overgrown with weeds and wild honeysuckle was in dead, brown-yellow patches.

"Okay, so, basics." Gary's voice broke. "I want you to take your hands and do like this" He said before taking his hands and out stretching them toward me. His right palm facing down and his left facing up, before he gently twisted his wrists and formed small figure eights over each other. He repeated the motion a number of times before he looked down at me. "It looks fucking stupid, I know. But _trust me_ it totally helps with basic self defence moves."

I rose an eyebrow. "How?" I pulled my head back in disbelief. Before raising my hands like he had and attempting to repeat the motion.

"It's kinda like the whole 'wax on, wax off' thing in karate kid." He said watching my movements. "Yeah, no. it's supposed to make your motions more fluid when you're attacked. Here I'll show ya." He stopped and came around behind me. I dropped my hands and turned my head, watching him from the corner of my eye. He grasped my shoulders and straightened my back before taking a foot and nudging it against mine. "Spread your legs a little." He instructed and I felt my cheeks flush before doing as he instructed, before he went for the kill and grasped my hips firmly in his hands. A shiver ran up my spine and made my hair stand on end, butterflies battled it out with the breakfast in my stomach momentarily as he adjusted my fighting stance. He moved me so my body was turned slightly and my hands were palm up again before having me repeat the motions. All too soon he let go and went back to face me.

"Okay, so, a lot of fighting moves are like, when someone's coming at ya, right?" He explained. "But what, you get like, one good punch in before your right up in some guys grill. The rest of it is up in everyone's face. So, Imma try to grab you!" Gary's voice went up a little in excitement. "And you're gonna try to grab my wrist and use that move, okay?" He explained and I furrowed my brow. "Here. I'm gonna to come at your left shoulder, like _this_." He moved in slowly and mimicked grabbing for my shoulder, his stance relaxed and non threatening. "When I move you gotta' grab my wrist with your right hand okay? Make sure you don't grab my hand though, so you can still move the target. You wanna make sure you're grabbing here" He pointed to the small tendant, pushing out of his skin. "Do that twisting move with your hand and then move to the side- " He slowly put his hand forward and I noticed how if I grab his wrist my left shoulder moves out of the way too. "Good. Ready for a bit faster? " he asked before taking a step back.

"I don't know if I'm ready for- Oh _shit_!" Gary had closed in before I'd starting speaking. As he moved, he tried to grab me by the shoulder, had I been paying attention I could have easily grabbed his wrist, but instead he collided with my shoulder and pushed me back onto a yellow-y patch of grass behind me. Where, just out of sight, a small hole layin the dirt, just under some weeds. I twisted my ankle and cried out as I clambered to the ground. I _did_ however manage to grab his wrist _as_ I fell. Pulling him down with me. I landed on my back with a _thunk_ , a huff of air escaped me as Gary toppled on top of me and I had the wind knocked out of me.

Gary's eyes were wide in shock as he towered over me. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks in embarrassment, our legs intertwined and our bodies pressed against each other. In the fall my skirt lifted inappropriately and Gary's knee was now pressed against my center. It made The Monarch's commentary from this morning burn through my head like a fire alarm as a shiver crept up my spine and my stomach turned in excitement as his breath muddled with mine, his eyes softened before I saw his gaze drop ever so briefly to my lips.

All too soon he'd rolled off of me "Sorry! _Sorry!_ Oh my god, are you okay?" he exclaimed in panic. He sat up, his cheeks burning red.

I pushed my skirt down and sat up in the grass as well. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine!" I grumbled trying to shake off my sudden, unexpected arousal.

"I'm _so_ sorry about that." Gary pushed himself up off the ground before bending over and reaching a hand out to help me up. I grabbed his elbow and he lifted me to my feet. Only for me to cry out in pain and crumple back to the ground. "Wh-what the hell happened?" Garry was now crouched over me his hands hovering over my head and hip, his face in an unsure grimace.

"My ankle" I gasped. "I twisted it in that hole." I pointed to the patch of grass before grasping at my leg.

* * *

"Ow." _shift_ "Ow." _shift_ "Ow." I wobbled into the kitchen through the back door, my left leg bent at the knee and my right arm grasping 21's shoulder, his arm around my waist, leading me toward the kitchen table.

"The hell happened to her?" The Monarch, who'd previously been reading the newspaper, at the kitchen table crumpled the side to look over at the two of us.

21 eased me into a chair before he bent at the knee to inspect the swelling around my ankle. "There's friggin gopher holes in the backyard." 21 almost yelled.

"Great." The Monarch scoffed sarcastically and shook the paper to pop the corner back up to cover his face. "Yet Ah _-nother_ expense in the long list of things I don't want to deal with."

21's rough hands grazed over my skin pressing firmly against the most tender parts. "Sorry I keep injuring you." He apologized.

I shook my head. "I seem to do this kind of thing on my own. Gotta toughen up somehow now that I'm a henchman, right?"

"Maybe we should find you some less physical henching for a bit." Gary grabbed the chair at the end of the table and slid it over closer to me before lifting my leg and placing my foot on the seat, elevating my injury. "Maybe you're more of a surveillance or weapons upkeep kinda henchman..."

I sighed. "I'm sorry."

Gary went to the fridge to pull out a bag of peas from the freezer. "What did you do for a living before- well before this?"

I shook my head and shrugged as Gary moved to place the peas against my swelling ankle. "I was an in home personal assistant, and on the side I did some graphic design here and there."

21 looked a bit confused before lifting my leg a bit more so he could sit on the chair, and then placed me ankel in his lap. I continued. "B-basically I was a housewife for little old ladies. I cooked and cleaned and did their laundry and made their bed and told them to take their pills- An 'assistant' for people that needed the extra help but not a ton so it was cheaper for the state to just pay me minimum wage then to send them to a nursing home."

"So not a _very_ physically demanding job."

"Not like, henchman demanding no." I shook my head and bit my lip. "My skills include six years of art school and being really good at petting cats." I tossed my arms up in exasperation. "There's a reason phantom limb used me as a maid. I just wasn't up to his standards. "

"Sweety the tubs all yours!" The councilman's gruff voice echoed into the kitchen before she came into view. She was wearing a pink nightgown with a towel wrapped around her head. She caught sight of Gary attending to my ankle and sighed. "Again?" she asked mildly annoyed.

I bit my bottom lip and looked away from her, embarrassed.

"I'm going to have you see a doctor, I'm not convinced Modesa didn't do something bring all this on."

My head snapped up to look at her and my heart started to pound in my ear. "No. Please. I'm fine, I don't need to see a doctor. I was clumsy before all that."

Sheila raised an eyebrow at my reaction. Before sighing again and shrugging "Please just be careful."

I nodded and smiled, trying my best to reassure her.

enjoy and review! :D


	6. Chapter Five

Gary spent the rest of the afternoon with me while The Monarch and his wife seemed to be off doing their own thing. The swelling in my ankle had gone down but was still a bit too tender to go back to training again. After a new bag of frozen veggies was applied to my ankle Gary suggested we watch a few self defence videos he had found online, on his laptop upstairs. He helped me hobble up the steps and up to his room, before I plopped down on his mattress. One leg bent under me and the injured one outstretched.

"Seriously, you can learn anything from youtube." He exclaimed as he pulled out the laptop from a backpack, "I sold all my stuff to upgrade my equipment, but after that I couldn't really afford actual self defence classes- and after 24 died I just _had_ to get better at all this. Get stronger. You know?" His eyes became downturned. "Didn't want to end up the same way."

I gave him a sympathetic frown. "24?" I asked.

Gary let out a sad sigh before sitting down next to me on the mattress and opening the laptop and pressing the power button. "Yeah-" he nodded "24… he was my best friend." His face turned dark. I raised an eyebrow and Gary shook his head. "It's a long story."

I pointed to my ankle "Well, it's not like I'm not going anywhere." I half joked.

Gary sighed and looked up to the ceiling, his eyes fixed on a spot where the wallpaper was peeling off.

"Henchman 24 was one of the henchmen who kidnapped me as a kid." 21 explained. "It's kinda funny." Gary leaned back onto the mattress on the palms of his hands as the laptop booted up. "I was 15, and The Monarch was trying to capture this senator, he was trying to make a law to make Dr. Venture's name illegal-"

"Dr. Venture?" I interrupted.

"Oh yeah, duh, you don't even know about the Ventures." Gary shook his head and looked over to me a bit shocked.

"I mean I know the name-" I shrugged. "Do you mean like- Jonas Jr. the inventor or Rusty, like from the cartoon?" I asked.

"Rusty." Gary explained. "I don't know what it is exactly, but the Monarch has had a personal vendetta against him since, like, _college_. I'm pretty sure he's the only reason he went into villainy in the first place." Gary typed his password into the computer quickly "So, anyway, they kidnap me and I start henching for him. 24 he just like, looked after me most of the time, and we hung out _constantly_. We became the Monarch's best henchmen. Just because we always stuck together. Through _everything."_ Gary opened up his chrome browser and typed the youtube url into the bar at the top of the page. "And then a few years back, The Monarch decided to storm the Venture's lot on the same day that the OSI did. It was a fucking _bloodbath_. We thought we'd be smart and just hide in the Monarch Mobile, just eating doritos and listening to the fight over the radio the backseat and whatever. But the Venture's Robot- this big blue thing they called H.E.L. .- he gets in the front seat, starts to take of, I jump out of the car, but 24 had his seat belt on-"

"Oh shit." I made an uncomfortable face, knowing where this was going.

"I know right?!" Gary gave an exasperated huff as his hands hovered over his keyboard and his brow furrowed in anger. "But the moppets- these- I don't know weird little evil henchmen that worked for The Councilman for a while, right? They'd rigged had a bomb to the robot and then- BOOM!" Gary made moved his hands and spread his fingers to mimic an explosion. "The robot explodes, the car explodes, and my best friends flaming head lands on my fucking face." Gary stuck out his jaw looking angry and almost tired.

"Jesus." I retort.

"Yeah, well, anyway. After that I had to do something- I tried having him cloned and that didn't work, I thought I was seeing his ghost for a bit but that just turned out to be me losing my fucking mind or something. So I just focused all my time on henching, or getting fit and being stronger. So I knew i could actually protect the Monarch and his wife, knew i could protect my friends, knew i could protect… my _self."_ his voice tapered off into a whisper.

"I'm so sorry." I reached out and placed a hand on his arm, in an attempt to be comforting, but not really knowing what to say.

"Have you ever just like… re-lived a moment over and over and you feel like you're there? Like it's happening to you again?" Gary turned to face me.

I nodded slowly "Um...yeah. I've struggled with PTSD most of my life actually." I explained awkwardly/

Gary's eyes grew wide. "Yes! That, that's exactly- ack thank you!" he exclaimed. "I thought PTSD was just for like, people in war zones and shit but no, I was looking it up and you can have it for any kind of traumatic event!" He let out a frustrated huff. "The Monarch thinks I'm just being a pussy. But the last time we were on a mission-" He stopped himself and visibly shut down. "Something happened. It's not something that hasn't happened before a million times, but it was the first time I was the one responsible and it's- it feels like how it felt when 24 died. Like I should have done more."

I sighed and adjusted my injured leg so I was sitting cross legged on the bed, my ankle resting on my knee. "I get that- my PTSD issues are more with… let's just say I've met some more than unkind people in my past, and even though Phantom Limb himself never did anything like _too terrible_ , being around him was incredibly triggering for me." I leaned back against the wall before crossing my arms and looking Gary in the eye. "He'd yell and I instantly thought I was going to be raped." my voice came out in a little more than a whisper, admitting it more to myself than to 21.

Gary's brow furred and he bit his bottom lip. "I'm so sorry." His voice was a low whisper.

I shook my head sharply. "It's not your fault the world is terrible." I shrugged. "But- I just mean I get it, the whole reliving it thing, it kinda eats you up a little and the best you can do is just- accept it and hope to god one day you move passed it."

Gary nodded and turned back to the laptop, placing his fingers over the keys. But before he could type in anything a knock came through the door and The Monarch stuck his head in. "Can I see you for a minute, 21?" he asked. His eyes looked to me a bit shifty and I tried my best to look nonchalant.

"Yeah, sure." Gary picked the laptop up from out of his lap and placed it next to me on the bed, before pushing himself up off of the mattress and exiting the room with our leader. The two closed the door behind them and I could hear their muffled tones through the door. Couldn't make out a word though my ears strained to try.

I pulled the laptop closer to me and typed in "cat videos" into the search bar, not sure what to do with myself while I waited, but wanting some kind of noise to drown out their whispers. Gary seemed to be getting a bit angry with the Monarch. His voice getting slowly louder and more high pitched.

At one point after somehow finding my way to a video of a orange tabby cat trying to say " _I love you_ " I heard his voice say "Dude, no I can't, do you have any idea what she just told me. I can't."

The Monarch replied "You're my henchman, this is your job!" there was a silence before the two went back to whispering.

Worry and slight panic rose up in my throat like vomit. I took a deep breath trying to ignore the warning alarm going off in my head. _The hell were they talking about? What was he asking Gary to do that he wasn't okay with? Why did it involve me?_

After a few more whispers Gary slipped back into his room shortly after another video, a black cat with it's head out the window, imitating the sounds of a dog barking, before it's owner walked it and it started mewing, almost as if it had been caught doing something bad.

"Everything okay?" I asked, and Gary nodded uncomfortably. It looked like he was trying to hide something behind his back.

"Huh, oh yeah, great." His tone was unconvincing. He moved around the room awkwardly, transfering whatever he was hiding to his side so I couldn't see. I watched him carefully, unsure of what to do. "How's your ankle?" He asked.

I pressed down a little on the tender area. "Better." I nodded.

"Good, that's good." He was acting so awkwardly, _what was up with him?_ He leaned over and moved the laptop away from me before turning back toward me. "You know, you should, ah maybe try walking on it?"

I nodded. "Yeah," He helped me up with one arm and I slowly applied pressure to the injury I looked to my feet before I took a wobbly step forward and realized it didn't hurt as much as I thought. I took another step this time a lot stronger. "It's feeling way better." I said and looked up, before realizing that Gary had moved behind me. I spun around just as I heard a loud metal _click_ and something stabbed into my shoulder. The world around me became hazy and darkness crept in, but before I lost consciousness and crashed to the floor I caught the outlines of 21 holding a dark blue tranq gun at me.

Please Review! It keeps me motivated. Also this season omg!


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